


Introduction to Sanders Sides Swimmerverse

by the_vampire_turtle



Series: Sanders Sides Swimmerverse [1]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Breastroke, Butterfly, Freestyle, Gen, Swim Club, Swim Team, Swimming, Swimming Explanation, Swimming Pools, backstroke, competitive swimming, starts, turns
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-16 03:47:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29200827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_vampire_turtle/pseuds/the_vampire_turtle
Summary: An introduction to the Sanders Sides Swimmerverse. NOT A STORY. If you would like to read the series, I suggest reading this to understand the swimming terms and phrases that I will use in this series.
Series: Sanders Sides Swimmerverse [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2143902
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	Introduction to Sanders Sides Swimmerverse

Hello! If you are reading this I assume you've taken interest in the Sanders Sides Swimmerverse. Its exactly what it sounds like. The sides are all on a swim team. The series will mostly be one-shots of me venting about my own swim practices, and projecting onto the sides. Below is an explanation of general terms I will be using throughout the series, as well as a description of the sides and what their main strokes and distances are, and their age, physical description, etc. I'll try to make it as quick as possible because its not the most exciting stuff, or you could just refer back here when you come across a term you don't recognize.

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Pools: There are two types of pools. Short course and long course. Short course is either 25 yards long, or 25 meters long (both about half the size of an Olympic swimming pool), and are abbreviated as SCY and SCM respectively. Long course is 50 meters long (the size of an Olympic swimming pool), and is abbreviated as LCM.

Stokes: There are four strokes in swimming. Butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle. Butterfly involves moving the feet at the same time, and pulling the arms at the same time through the water before bringing them out above the water to recover. It is typically considered one of the most tiring and exhausting strokes. Backstroke is the only stroke swum on the back. The swimmer floats in the water, facing up, and moves the arms at different times, almost like a windmill, while maintaining a flutter kick. Breaststroke involves moving the legs in an outward, froglike movement before snapping them together, while pulling the arms in a wide circular motion towards the chest. Freestyle uses a flutter kick and moves the arms through the water in a circular motion, similar to backstroke. I will post example videos of all these strokes in the notes at the end.

Distances: The majority of the time, the sides will be practicing and competing in SCY pools. Because each lap is 25 yards, distances are measured in multiples of 25. For example, a 50 is 2 laps, a 100 is 4 laps, a 200 is 8 laps, and so on and so forth. In terms of racing, swimmers usually, but not always, fall into one of two categories; sprint and distance. Sprinters usually race in the 50 free, 100s, and sometimes 200s. Distance swimmer also swim those at swim meets, but they specialize in the long distance races; the 500, 1,000, and 1650 (also known as the mile). 

Races: You know that races are measured in different distances. All of the 'sprint' distances, except for the 50, can be raced with all four strokes. The 50 can only be raced swimming freestyle at the age that the sides are. 

IM: You can also race the Individual Medley, or IM, where you race all of the strokes, in a specific order. In an IM, a swimmer races each stroke, swimming butterfly first, followed by backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle. The distance of the race is divided by four, so each stroke is swum that same distance. For example, in the 100 IM, you would swim a 25 of each stroke. In a 200 IM, you would swim a 50 of each stroke. 

Starts: Fly, breast, and free races all start by diving off of starting blocks. Backstroke races start in the water. You can find pictures of starting blocks by simply googling 'starting blocks swimming' and you will find pictures of all different kinds of starting blocks.

Turns: When a swimmer gets to a wall in a race, they either do a flipturn or an open turn. Flipturns are used in back and free races, where the swimmer glides toward the wall on their stomach, and then flips over so that their feet are near the wall so they can push off again. Open turns are used in fly and breast races. A swimmer will touch the wall with two hands and then tuck their legs in and push off.

Underwaters: When a swimmer pushes off the wall, when swimming all strokes except breaststroke, they go into a series of quick, dolphin like kicks. This is to help maintain power off of walls for as long as possible. Breaststroke has a special underwater called a pullout that has to be done.

Dryland: Dryland refers to on-land workouts that swimmers do. Things that other sports normally do such as running, planks, pushups, crunches, jump roping, etc. are extra workouts for us. Since we do them on land, we call it dryland.

I know that this is a lot of information, so if you've made it this far I appreciate it. Below I'll talk about each of the characters as well as Thomas, and their roles in the swimmerverse. There will not be any romantic relationships, but there will definitely be many platonic ones that could be read as romantic if you so desire.

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Thomas Sanders: 34 year old Coach Thomas coaches the group that all the characters are in. He is a fun-loving, caring coach, but he also knows when to push his swimmers to reach their fullest potential.

Virgil Shade: 16 years old. Black hair that is cut fairly short. Breaststroker. Best events: 100 breast, 200 breast, 200 IM.

Roman King: 15 years old. Darkly tanned skin and dirty blonde hair that is sun/chlorine bleached. Twins with Remus. Sprint Freestyler. Best events: 50 free, 100 free, 200 free, 100 IM.

Remus King: 15 years old. Darkly tanned skin and dirty blonde hair that is sun/chlorine bleached. Twins with Roman. Butterflier. Best events: 100 fly, 200 fly, 200 IM.

Logan Croft: 16 years old. Short brown hair and fair skin. Very tall and skinny. Backstroker. Best events: 100 free, 100 back, 200 back.

Patton Hart: 16 years old. Shaggy blonde hair. IMer. Best events: 100 IM, 200 IM, 100 breast.

Janus Deciman: 17 years old. Dark skin and bleached hair. Distance swimmer. Best events: 200 free, 500 free, 1,000 free, 1650 free.

The boys are in high school, but the team they are on is a club swim team. They are all about the same speed and practice in two neighboring lanes. They swim in an outdoor pool year round.

**Author's Note:**

> Videos of the different strokes:  
> Butterfly: 4:05 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4E5mqGnzIc  
> Backstroke: 0:14 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DC_ObyGbSUs  
> Breaststroke: 3:05 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdhmGyU0bis  
> Freestyle: 0:28 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFG32B-SymM
> 
> I was thinking about putting a brief explanation of terms that I use in future works in the beginning notes of those stories, let me know if you guys think I should do that.


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